Hello
I'm brand new to Lanchester LD10's (and this forum) and I have a bit of a problem.
The dashboard on my '51 Barker body has got woodworm and is delaminating. I've taken it off the car and it's nearly falling apart so I'll obviously have to buy, make or steal another one. Has anyone else had this happen and if so what are the best options (bearing in mind I'm on a tight budget)
Thanks
Sid

First of all welcome to the forum, you will find that you can ask almost anything Daimler or Lanchester here and someone will be able to help you with it.

Seems that all the Daimler and Lanchester cars of the 30's suffer from woodworm, I can only think that the timber they used was particularly attractive to the little blighters, my 15 has a similar problem in the ply bulkhead.

If you have woodworm in the dash it will certainly be elsewhere and it is well worth a good dig round to check the frames and in particular the ply around the bulkhead.

When the problem gets as bad as yours unless you are particularly good at cabinet making the task of making a replica is a bit daunting, though I bet there is someone on here who has done it.

They do occasionally appear on fleabay and in the club magazine for sale adverts, I am not sure but it may be the same as a Daimler 15 and there is a chap down your neck of the woods on fleabay who has broken one recently, I will look him out and post a link here if I can find him.

Hi Syd
Yes there was woodworm elsewhere, although they only appear to have gone for the plywood so I've replaced that. The ash frame and door caps seem to be OK, as is the floor. I have to admit to being at a loss with woodwork, my sole experience being one term at school in about 1961, so I've probably forgotten anything I was taught. Maybe there is someone I can take it to for advice.
Regards
Sid

I treated everywhere where there is wood with a liberal coat of Cuprinol wood worm treatment, then mixed a thin mix of fibreglass resin which I dribbled into the worm holes where the timber was sound.

I have been looking at the bulkhead ply which I have treated but is very badly affected and ugly but as my car is more or less roadworthy I am loathed to strip it out and replace it, it looks a big task, how much of a job was it? Syd

Older plywood used animal glue to bond the ply sheets together, this was made from boiling animal hides so provided a tasty meal for woodworm.
Assuming it is a flat dashboard no problem for a small joinery company. Veneer assuming you can source it can be applied with contact adhesive by them or yourself. If its not a flat dashboard then it becomes a bit more tricky and expensive.
My LD10 being a Briggs body model has a metal dash.

Animal glue eh? No wonder the little blighters like it.
The dash has a very slight curve but I don't think it's all that noticeable when in place, at least it wasn't to me prior to lifting it out.
I replaced the ply panel behind the back seat, the two panels beneath the back seat, and while I was at it made a floor for the boot, the original wasn't with the car when i bought it. Luckily the bulkhead is steel, so no problem there.

Just goes to show I don't know my Lanchester models, I thought the LD10 was similar to my 1937 Daimler 15, sorry Sid was giving you a bum steer with that dash board on fleabay. It's the LD11 that is similar to the Daimler.

I am no expert but love to have a go at these things, I found the difficult part of veneering was getting the right grain and colour of material to match the rest of the woodwork. Then it took lots of patience some skill with a sharp knife, and careful positioning of the veneer before I stuck it down. I did an Austin thirty years ago, I steamed the veneer where it was curved to get it to bend and used hot animal glue so I was able to slide the veneer around before it set and before I trimmed off the surplus.

Some glue came through the veneer but I sanded it back with very fine sand paper and it looked fine when finished.

Then I had a go at french polishing the veneer, again once you have got the stain and polish colour right the rest is practice and patience, you do need lots of coats and lots of time for each coat to properly dry or the whole lot becomes sticky, if that happens you let it dry sand it back and try again.

It takes experts years to learn how to do these things but with a bit of time and patience it can be done to quite a reasonable standard if you are prepared to have a go.

No problem Syd I'm always getting things mixed up, it's an age thing. Come to think of it I used to get things mixed up before I got old.
Like you I'll give anything a go. But I'll exhaust all other options first. A friend of a friend is a dab hand at carpentry, and has all the tools so I might try persuading him he wants to do it, and if not I'll do it.
One other option I've got is that I live a stones throw from Brooklands Museum, so I might go and bend the ear of one of their volunteers to see what they would do.

To get the slight curve you will either have to glue up about 3 layers of thin ply over a former, if its a gradual curve the former can just be some timbers as spacers that reduce in height from the centre on say a stout plank. Use a glue like Cascamite that does not creep and probably over bend slightly. You will only be able to cut out the holes in one of the thin sheets before assembly as they will not line up.
Alternatively you can construct a box to hold the dash if cut out in one thickness and use a wallpaper stripper to introduce steam into the box, then bend over the former after hours of cooking. Have a look on the internet.
Should keep you out of mischief for some time!
While using animal glue for the veneer is a good idea contact adhesive will grab it instantly and probably wont need pressure on it which other glues would need, just get the joint lined up first.